As the number of electronic transactions occurring in the world continues to rise, it is increasingly difficult for the involved entities, such as merchants and banks, to manage and process these electronic transactions and associated accounts efficiently and effectively. Simultaneously, this complexity has further increased due to ever-changing payment and network technologies and legislation.
In performing commercial electronic transactions, merchants and banks typically have many credit networks and/or debit networks from which to choose between, and a variety of rules that may bind certain transactions to specific networks. Thus, determining the proper payment processing network where a transaction may or should be processed can thus be particularly challenging, especially when a conflict exists between these types of rules, or when there are multiple options that are available. Consequently, there is a need for improved systems and methods for efficiently and effectively determining which network should be used for processing a particular transaction.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems, individually and collectively.